The Rural Voice, 1978-12, Page 3Inside this month
Special features
Turkeys all Year Round P 5
Raising Turkeys in 1880 P 6
Vet Raises Sheep P 8
Farming as it used to be
John Turner P. 11
Bill Millen P. 13
Les Fortune P 14
Walter Hamilton P 16
Agriculture History Symposium . . . P. 17
Letter to the Editor P. 43
O.F.A. Convention P 47
Regular features
A Matter of Principle P. 9
Up and Coming P 10
Voice of a Farmer P 18
Rural News in Brief P 19
Advice on Farming P 27
The Rural Family P 33
The Young Farmer P 38
Farming Around the World P 40
Mailbox of the Month P. 42
Classified P. 42
Perth Federation P. 44
Bruce Federation P 45
Huron Federation P. 48
Cover Photo by Rhea Hamilton
the rural
Voice
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Opinion
As Rural Voice goes to press with a special pre -Christmas
issue, featuring a couple of stories about that Christmas time
favourite ...the turkey . . . turkeys, or at least their prices this
Christmas 1978 are under attack in the national media.
The current hullabaloo over turkeys is an excellent case study
of increases in food costs and how they are seen by the
consumer. Because Grade A turkey now costs at least 30 cents
per pound more than it did last Christmas ($1.28 a pound
compared with $.98) the consumer goes hunting for a villain.
Most consumers don't know that the farm gate price for
turkeys has gone up only about 3 cents a pound, from an average
of 47.5 cents live in 1977 to 51 cents in 1978. All most turkey
buyers know is that farmers raise turkeys and prices are up,
therefore farmers are getting windfall profits.
There's no commodity as visible as turkey is at Christmas time
and the "over -priced" turkey issue is an excellent place for the -
farmer to get his economic case out to consumers.
That is being done to some extent. . .the front page of the
Globe and Mail's business section recently carried a story
quoting turkey producers, processors and retailers on turkey
prices. The processors' spread of the higher turkey prices, the
article revealed, has almost doubled since last year from 30 cents
to 55 cents.
Processors attempt to justify their cut's increase (they now get
more per pound than the farmer who raises the turkeys does) by
saying they suffered b ig losses in 1977 and that they're charging
what the market will near.
The national turkey marketing agency counters by accusing
processors of deliberately inflating demand. Statistics bear the
board out . . . there are currently 50 million pounds in storage
and 43 million pounds waiting to be killed, while total turkey
consumption last November and December was only 78 million
pounds.
In an attempt to placate consumers and lower turkey prices,
the marketing agency has authorized imports of American
turkeys. It hopes this will eliminate further hoarding by
processors.
It's a far sighted action by the turkey marketing agency and
one that should win them friends among consumers.
But like most pricing stories it's complicated one and it's all
too easy for consumers, and those who are supposed to be
keeping them informed, to opt for the easy way out and equate
high turkey prices with a bigger share for the farmer.
Farmers know that is not the case, but how do they get their
message across to thousands of buyers of Christmas turkeys ?
If farmers in other commodities learn the facts and spread the
truth about who gets how much of Mr. and Mrs. Public's turkey
dollar, turkey producers can return the favour and keep others
informed about beef, pork or bean prices.
Farmers, we'd say, have a responsibility to do at least that
much for each other.
The old photos
The old photos which illustrate the Rural Voice story about
farming years ago were taken by the late Harold Turner early in
this century and are from a photo album loaned by John Turner
of Tuckersmith. Rural Voice is -grateful for the chance to
reproduce a bit of their valuable documentation of a way of life
that is now gone. Our thanks to Mr. Turner.
THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1978 PG. 3